Chip Ganassi Racing’s Memo Rojas will start tomorrow’s inaugural SFP Grand Prix from the pole, following a heated battle in qualifying this evening at Kansas Speedway.

Rojas laid down a 1:09.883 lap time late in the 15-minute session, putting the No. 01 Telcel Riley-BMW on the top spot for the two-hour and 45-minute race on the six-turn roval.

“I got a bit worried halfway through qualifying because we had bad luck with traffic,” Rojas explained. “We waited to get a big gap on pit lane and suddenly we started to catch the gentlemen drivers. Lap after lap, I was losing the best grip of my tires.

Kimi Raikkonen calls Spa his favorite circuit, and the Finn has a great record in the Belgian GP. In order to get his Formula One title challenge back on track, he really needs to finish ahead of Sebastian Vettel when action resumes. Can he do it? Here’s a Q&A provided by Lotus.

You were second in Budapest before the summer break. How good would it be to go one step better at Spa?

“Usually I’ve achieved a good result at the Belgian Grand Prix, but what has happened there before doesn’t help me right now. Of course, it doesn’t cause any harm either and it would be great to win at Spa for a fifth time. Extra points are always good and if you win the race no-one scores more points than you.”

How has your history been at the circuit?

“For me there have only been good memories from Spa and it’s great to go racing there. You can’t get the same kind of a feeling anywhere else. It’s great to race with a modern racing car at a proper circuit which has such a great tradition.”

Button, who won last year’s race, said at the last race in Hungary that the car would be more suited to the high-speed track.

“Spa has always been on my shortlist of favorite circuits in Formula One,” said Button. “I still remember my first Grand Prix there, back in 2000, when I outqualified Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari; that felt pretty special. Then I think back to my victory there last year, I had pretty much the perfect weekend – my car was fantastic, I got pole position and just led the whole race. It was one of the most satisfying wins of my career just because I felt strong and confident for the entire weekend.

“The thing about Spa is that it just feels awesome to nail a quick lap around there – you need a car that’s perfectly synced to the driver, because it’s such a long lap, and there are so many big corners, that you need to find that perfect balance. And getting the setup right – and running flat-out for nearly two minutes – feels incredible.”

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Red Bull Indianapolis GP will air LIVE on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, August 18 in a four-hour programming block that starts at 11:00am ET.

‘Marquez Mania’ hit the Brickyard on Friday as Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez only furthered the argument that he’s already the class of the MotoGP field with another breathtaking performance.

Just 20 years of age, the Spanish class rookie swept both Friday free practices to kick off the Red Bull Indianapolis GP weekend in style.

Marquez’s rivals hoped to return from the summer break ready to meet his growing challenge. However, no one could match the Friday pace of the sport’s newest sensation, who opens the season’s second half leading the points and carrying consecutive victories into Indy.